Gallery: Daikon Art is Brilliant and Maybe Even You Can Do it

The pulpy shavings of the huge Japanese daikon radish are a Japanese food staple. The fibrous mound – a phrase we’re thrilled to actually use in a sentence, by the way – can act as both garnish and side dish, and it’s just the right combination of moist, sturdy and malleable that not only can it be used in a huge variety of recipes, it can also be formed into all kinds of creative sculptures.

In other words, it’s kind of Japanese kids’ answer to mashed potato volcanoes.

But in the hands of adults, these sculptures go beyond just playing with food and become something else entirely, as the Japanese Internet is quickly learning. Looks like bento art is no longer the only way to fulfill your fantasy of devouring pandas and other cute, endangered species, among other things: